Title:
P'aṙanjem and her HusbandsSubtitle: A New Hypothesis on the Marriages of the Armenian QueenAuthor(s): ZAKARIAN, DavidJournal: Studia IranicaVolume: 47Issue: 1
Date: 2018 Pages:
75-88DOI:
10.2143/SI.47.1.3285719

Abstract :
The present article revisits Nina Garsoïan’s Iranian hypothesis regarding the marriage of the Arsacid Armenian King Aršak II (350-368 C.E.). While fully concurring with her suggestion that the 'highly Iranized' Armenian elite, despite being Christian, still followed the Iranian traditions of marriage, this paper demonstrates that Aršak’s marriage to P‘aṙanjem was in accordance with the tradition of stūr marriage, through which the agnatic group would ensure that a male heir be given birth by the deceased man’s widow, daughter or a woman appointed by the agnates. This heir would subsequently inherit the deceased man’s property and preserve the domestic cult of his ancestors.